In 2017, Aleksandra Popovska and her husband, Daniel Penn, had just wrapped up their third remodel in about as many years: a “Vancouver special” that had been converted into three apartments. They were planning a celebration the night of their move into one of the units. “We were like, ‘We’ll pop a bottle of champagne,’” recalls Daniel—but they wound up celebrating for much different reasons. “We found out we were pregnant,” he says.

After realizing that their two-bedroom apartment wasn’t going to accommodate their growing family and large dog, the couple started looking for a new home—and from their prior remodeling experience, they knew they wanted a project. “I grew up doing renovations with my dad, since I was a teenager, well before architecture school,” says Aleksandra, who is an architect and principal of the Vancouver firm Hidden Studio Architecture & Design.

She had already completed a remodel by the time she and Daniel met—a full gut wherein she did all the demo and electrical herself. “I think it gives Aleks an insight that’s a bit different,” says Daniel, an entrepreneur. “She knows what things cost,” and the ins and outs of the construction process.

Before: Front Exterior

“We were looking for a home with a lot of original elements that we could restore, and then add in some more contemporary design, which is how I like to work,” says Aleksandra. “The Foreign Buyer’s Tax was introduced in 2016, followed by the Empty Homes Tax in 2017, both to cool off the market—and it worked. Everything dried up!”

By early 2020, they were expecting their second daughter, and they knew their two-bedroom apartment would no longer cut it, so they got more proactive in their search. Fortunately for them, the market was picking back up and they saw a listing for a 1912 Edwardian, just a 10-minute dog walk from their old place.

After: Front Exterior

After being converted to three apartments, with two additions on the rear, the Edwardian didn’t have much character left. “It was nice, if you didn't look too closely,” jokes Aleksandra—although she still appreciated the home’s strengths, like its location on a hill that afforded privacy from the street, the generous backyard, and the intact bay windows. “You could see the form of it underneath,” she says. “We hoped that we would uncover some elements that we could maintain...maybe original flooring, or pieces of the banister.”

$27,300 Site Prep & Scaffolding	$91,894 Demolition	$13,313 Structure Moving
$83,528 Foundations (Concrete, Excavation, & Earthworks)	$83,145 Rough Carpentry (Framing)	$24,525 Insulation (Exterior & Sound)
$22,330 Interior Wall Finishes	$62,927 Exterior Wall Finishes	$23,873 Roofing
$56,515 Windows, Skylights, & Glazing	$16,332 Doors & Hardware	$39,806 Electrical
$31,331 Plumbing (Including Sprinklers)	$35,499 HVAC	$52,436 Flooring & Tile
$8,720 Kitchen & Bath Plumbing Fixtures	$6,533 Lighting Fixtures	$94,550 Cabinetry & Counters Carpentry
$40,354 Exterior Decking	$19,864 Landscaping	$24,027 Painting & Staining
$17,819 Appliances	$19,729 Permitting & Engineering	$8,951 Utilities
$5,250 Surveyor & Engineering	$126,745 General Contracture & Labor
Grand Total: $1,037,296

They purchased the home in 2020, in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. The first months of ownership were occupied with caring for their new baby, and then Aleksandra started studying similar homes in the area to commence the redesign and permitting process. When construction started in 2022, the home turned out to be full of surprises and complications at every turn, which ultimately brought their budget to a little over $1 million USD.

Before: Foyer

After: Foyer

After: Powder Room

“Basically everything had asbestos in it,” says Aleksandra. “Our first bill jumped up by $60,000 for demo,” says Daniel. Of the two rear additions, one had to be removed completely because it was undocumented with the city, which shrank the home by 300 square feet. On closer inspection, the other addition “was really not structurally sound,” says Aleksandra. “The nails were just floating in air because it had separated so far from the main structure.”

Once the boring, gray exterior stucco was removed, they learned the front porch had suffered fire damage, and would need to be rebuilt. Last but most definitely not least, they needed to lift the house and reconstruct the foundation. “The builders described the foundation as ‘crumbling to sand in your hand,’” says Aleksandra. In the process of doing that, there was a concrete shortage, and the city required them to move the house six inches to conform with current zoning bylaws. Still, “We made a good strategic decision to lift and rebuild,” says Aleksandra, as leaving it to the future would just be more expensive, with continuous rising costs.

Before: Living Room

After: Living Room

“After everything got removed, we had this tiny little box,” jokes Daniel. Even then, Aleksandra’s redesign didn’t start from scratch. “I grew up and primarily worked in Toronto and know the historic Victorians there,” she says. “These Edwardian houses in Vancouver are a little different, so I did end up studying quite a lot of historical documents and also the houses in the neighborhood.”

The architect worked to maintain the home’s existing proportions, from the bay windows to the ceiling height in the foyer, and she tweaked the layout and finishes for a contemporary feel where appropriate, like adding a second door to the upper balcony so both bedrooms have porch access, streamlining the newel post on the staircase, and adding surprising saturated colors—from inky blue in the foyer, to salmon pink in the hall, and dusty green in the kitchen.

Before: Main Floor

After: Dining Room

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

The color palette originated with the rear addition, which Aleksandra used as an opportunity to play. “It was never part of the original house, wasn’t clad in the same siding, and the windows weren’t proportioned the same way,” says Aleksandra. “Everything was so different that we treated it as a contemporary element to contrast with the rest of the house and do something more fun.”

She literally raised the roof, “extruding its shape from the original hip roof,” streamlined the window trim, eliminated the eaves, and recessed the gutters. In a nod to older houses, the exterior is covered in fish-scale shingles, but painted bright pink.

Before: Rear Facade

After: Rear Facade

After: Primary Suite

Since taking up residence in 2023, the couple have been getting to know this corner of the neighborhood (and its nearby coffeeshops) as their children make new friends. “We never lived in a place for very long before,” says Daniel. “We wanted something that we could live in for a long time.” From the foundation to the roof, this house has been rebuilt to last, possibly, another hundred years.

“The process was not easy,” says Aleksandra. “But ultimately, it was highly fulfilling. I love solving problems. And I hope the improvements not only create a nice place for our daughters to grow up, but something for future generations to enjoy just as much.”

Before: Upper Apartment

After: Kids' Room

After: Bedroom/Office

After: Basement

After: Side Yard

More Budget Breakdown stories:

A Seattle Couple Build Twin Backyard Offices for $51K—No Permit Required

Is This $590K Rhode Island Home “Too California?” Not for Its Owners

A Tiny Pantry Makes a Big Difference at This $111K Townhome Renovation

Project Credits:

Architecture: Hidden Studio Architecture & Design / @hiddenstudio.ca

Builder: Terris & Co. General Contractors

Structural Engineer: Chiu Hippmann Engineering Inc.

Landscape Design: Hidden Studio Architecture & Design

Lighting Design: Hidden Studio Architecture & Design

Interior Design: Hidden Studio Architecture & Design